Cantabridgian

This weekend has been my first chance to explore my new neighborhood since I've moved in. I am officially a Cantabridgian, but seeing as I just learned that term, I think I have a lot left to learn about my new home.

I've decided, however, to write down my first observations and impressions, in spite of the risk of sounding incredibly dumb. Wait, let me rephrase that. In spite of the certainty of sounding incredibly dumb. Because the truth is that I know I will go back and read this in a few months, and have an entirely different image of the place I am living, and be shocked by my own naivete. Nevertheless, it is fun to remember initial impressions, and it may be fun for the two people who read my blog to have any impressions of the place I'm living. So forgive me if this all changes in a few months, but here is what I have seen so far:

1) General location: I live between Magazine Street (which makes me happy because it reminds me of New Orleans) and River Street. I am exactly a 7 minute walk from the T station, which is pretty much right in the middle of Central Square; multiple people have timed this, and we all come up with 7 minutes, so although that seems arrogantly specific I think it's actually just accurate. My street itself is a very short one, and my building (a three story house-turned-into-apartment building) is across from a long section of row houses, painted many different bright colors, and next door to an abandoned elementary school that, this fall, will become home to an alternative high school and a family resource center. (The crowd at my first ever neighborhood association meeting seemed very concerned about this one, but that's an entirely different story...)

2) Churches: I'm pretty sure I live in the district of churches. Directly across the street from my street is the large white Methodist Church. Two blocks down is the Korean Church, which also serves as a homeless shelter. Two blocks down from that is the Greek Orthodox Church, which last weekend held a 3-day Greek festival that shut down a whole block, with tables and lots of Greek food in the middle of the street. One block down is the large Baptist Church right in the heart of Central Square, with two signs: one proclaiming their 190-year existence and another proclaiming the existence of a "new kind of church" that meets in the afternoon. A block and a half past Central Square is my church, although given the plethora of options on my walk to my church, part of me wants to re-evaluate my church membership.

3) Restaurants: According to Wikipedia, Central Square is "well-known for its wide variety of ethnic restaurants." I haven't gotten the chance to try almost any of them, but my two favorites so far are the India Pavilion and the Falafel Palace. Ok, I confess, I haven't eaten at the Falafel Palace and I've only tried India Pavilion once. I think I mostly like them because the names are so fabulous and they're right next door to each other, increasing the fabulousness. I also discovered an Indian grocery store on my way home from the India Pavilion and kicked myself for just having bought the expensive version when I probably could have gotten roughly the same food more cheaply. Oh well--there's always next time. More on restaurants to come soon hopefully...

4) Public spaces: There is a park on Magazine Street just about a block away from where my street lets out. I haven't yet been but it seems very pretty--lots of benches and greenery. (Although, I have been warned by the neighborhood association, it's also a prime spot for teenagers to hang out, which can only mean trouble! Please reread that sentence again if you didn't hear the sarcasm the first time.) My favorite park, though, is the one that I discovered yesterday, which is in the middle of the sidewalk in Central Square. Yes, that's right--a park on a sidewalk. It is basically two rows of trees with benches between them in the middle of the brick sidewalk outside of the 190-year-old Baptist Church, with a plaque verifying that it is, in fact, a city park. (I think it's named after someone, although I also believe the plaque was placed there for confused passersby like myself. Then again, every street corner up here seems to have a special sign denoting it a "square," so I think maybe we're just a little overzealous with our awarding of honor to public spaces.) As much as I am mocking, I really thought the benches were cute and was hoping to go read there this afternoon--but alas, it is thunderstorming. Thankfully, the "park" is right next to a very fun-looking coffee shop, so I'm sure the idea will tempt me again sometime soon.

That's all for now! Hopefully, if you read this and are far away, it will tempt you to come visit (particularly if you know how to cook your own Indian food if given the proper ingredients--which I could supply!) Above is a picture of my building (from the outside, which my much more aesthetically-inclined roommate informs me is ugly, but I kind of think it's cute), just in case you're visual and all these words get annoying after awhile. :)